1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interface apparatus constituting an interface through which human and a wireless tag attached to an object are connected. Also, the present invention relates to a mobile robot equipped with the interface apparatus.
2. Description of Relevant Art
Conventionally, a robot equipped with a voice recognition unit and a voice synthesis unit for having a conversation with person has been discovered for example in U.S. unexamined patent publication No. 2005/0218292A1.
The robot disclosed in U.S. unexamined patent publication No. 2005/0218292A1 performs a series of motion (tasks), by which the robot receives an object from a person (client) who has requested a conveyance of the object, moves to a certain place, and hands the object to a recipient. Here, this robot has a conversation controller for having a conversation with a client and recipient.
However, the robot of No. 2005/0218292A1 can only output a simple voice message, such as “I have a delivery for you”, to a recipient. Thus, the conversation between the recipient and the mobile robot is poor in content and it is hard for the recipient to feel warmth with the robot. Additionally, the client sometimes has a desire to transfer a message to the recipient through the robot.
In order to fulfill such desire, there is a method comprising the steps of: recording a message of a client on a wireless tag provided on an object; making a robot carry the object with the wireless tag; and making the robot utter the message, which is obtained from the wireless tag while the robot is made to pass the object to the recipient.
In this case, however, in order to record predetermined information on the wireless tag, the user (operator) who uses a terminal has to input predetermined data through the terminal to provide data ready for recording on the wireless tag. Thus, the provision of such data requires time and effort.
Therefore, an interface apparatus which can automatically record predetermined information on the wireless tag and can resolve such defects has been desired. Also, a mobile robot equipped with this interface apparatus has been desired.